Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur (MS)
Kundapur, Mar 11: It seems that the activity of Naxals, which was quiet for some time, has started again. Naxal leader C P Jaleel was killed in an encounter in a resort in Wayanad of Kerala on Wednesday, March 6. It is suspected that his accomplices, who were with him during the encounter, have fled to Karnataka. In addition, the police suspect that the people who accompanied Jaleel are from Beltangady.
The Naxal movement which started in Andhra and found it roots in Karnataka had spread to the adjoining state of Kerala. In Karnataka, the Naxals were able to gain the support for their movement by instigating the Adivasis saying that they will be displaced by the government in the name of making Kudremukh National Garden and making them join the Naxal movement. Some locals of Beltangady, who believed in the rumours spread by the Naxals, lost their lives. Rest went underground. The number of Naxals got reduced considerably due to the intensive combing operation carried out by the anti-Naxal squad. With that the Naxals lost the support of the locals also. When the Naxals failed to get any new recruits in Karnataka, they inevitably migrated to Kerala via Madikeri.
An attempt was made by the former state government to bring the Naxals to the main stream of the society by convincing them. However, after the death of Gauri Lankesh, who was leading that effort, the attempt also took a backseat. However, the roots of the Naxalas were becoming strong in Kerala. So the Anti-Naxal Squad had intensified its operation. National investigative squad had conducted inquiry in the Udupi-Chikkamagalur district border and Mysuru district border areas. They were mainly searching for the team of Naxal leaders Sundari, a native of Beltangady. Now Jaleel is killed within a month of starting of the operation in Kerala. So now the combing operation has started in Karnataka as there is suspicion that the Naxals might have shifted back to Karnataka.
When Jaleel and his gang visited a resort in Wayanad and pressurized them for cash and food items, the resort people informed the same to the police. The Anti-Naxal squad which was in the vicinity encountered Jaleel. It is said that there were four accomplices with Jaleel, when he was encountered. They absconded in the adjoining thick forest and it is not known whether they are from Karnataka or Kerala.
In 2018, certain people armed with weapons had visited houses in Shiradi. It is said that this is the same team that was hovering in the region of Wayanad in Kerala which is close to Kodagu border.
Anti-Naxal Force squad is intensely combing the areas of different districts, including Madikeri, H D Kote and Mysuru. High alert is sounded in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada district also. Vehicles are being checked and check posts are being installed as part of the combing operation.
Nisha James, SP of the district says, "We have information of the Naxals shifting their base from Kerala to somewhere else. So a high alert is declared in the district. Information is being collected through control room and vehicles are being checked at check posts. Search operation is also on. There is no need for the citizens to panic."